Kitchen project

As most of you know, Jesse is a project man. He always has a laundry list of things he wants to do to our home, constantly improving the value of our property. Sometimes things go right as planned...most of the time they dont. But in the end, he always does a nice job and I'm very thankful to have a talented and creative husband.

His latest project is re-doing our kitchen. What started out as a simple fix has turned into an entire room overhaul. I must say, it is going to look awfully nice once it is all complete.

Here is a sneak preview of his work in progress:

The old cabinents were oak, and the previous owner had glued white tile with wine glasses in the center of them. Didnt quite fit with our taste...so, Jesse removed the tiles and then cut out these new "bead board" inserts, sanded down the cabinents, and re-painted them solid white. Just to finish it all off, he added the crown molding at the top to make them look like custom cabinents. And lastly we purchased dark hardware to tie into our black appliances, new "rubbed bronze" lighting fixtures and sink faucet.
Once he started painting the cabinents, we realized that the ugly off-white laminate countertops simply would not work. So we bit the bullet and purchased granite countertops.

You can see we have not started the backsplash yet, but laying on the counter in this picture are the two tones we are going to apply in a sort of checkerboard pattern to the backsplash.
Another look at the corner of the kitchen with the re-done cabinents, new granite, and black appliances.
Once we have a finished product, I will post more pictures! I think this project will definitely pay off when we decide to sell the house!

Weekend at Great Grandma's!

This weekend Ryleigh and I went with my mom up to see my grandparents. It is sad to think that Ryleigh is 2 months old and had not met her Great Grandma and Great Granddad! Everytime we thought we would get a chance, something came up. Finally, enough was enough. I had to get up there!! So we went, and we had an excellent weekend.

I had a good time chatting with Mom in the car; it could have been a very lonely ride up there and back with just myself and a sleeping baby! Not to mention it saved time, because Mom was able to drive a few times when Ryleigh needed to be fed, and I did not have to stop and feed her.

We got in late Friday night, and met Grandma at her house. Ryleigh was slightly fussy because we woke her up when the car stopped, but she soon calmed down once we put her in the bath tub. Great Grandma gave her a bath and then fixed her hair extra special- one big curl on top of her head! I have attempted to mimic the curl the past 2 days, and cannot get it right! I'll keep working on it.

Saturday morning we woke up and I fed Ryleigh while Mom and Grandma had their coffee. It was so fun chatting with them late at night and early in the morning. We were talking about my cousins' babies, and Grandma mentioned that neither of them had spent the night at her house. Ryleigh was her 1st great-grandchild to spend the night! All in all, it was pretty special spending quality time with my grandmother, mother, and my daughter all together.

Then we headed up to Tyler to visit Granddad in the rehab facility. He looked good and was moving around much better than I had expected. It was cute watching him talk to Ryleigh. We enjoyed lunch together and then went back to his room to talk. Unfortunately his roommate did not like us talking...I thought him and Granddad were going to go at it! Oh well. It was a nice afternoon.

That night Grandma, Mom, and I went to dinner at a new Mexican restaraunt on the way home. It was very good. I ordered a daqueri, thinking it might help Ryleigh sleep that night. I'm not sure it helped her any, but it sure did taste good!

Sunday, we went back to visit Granddad, ate lunch together, and had a mini/early birthday party for Grandma. We were hoping to visit a little bit longer, but Ryleigh started throwing a terrible fit, and we could not get her to calm down. So we ended up leaving a early and heading home. Once we got her in her carseat, she calmed down and went to sleep. Go figure.

It was an awesome weekend, and I know I will cherish the memories of the weekend forever.

Ryleigh is excited to meet Great Grandma and Great Granddad!

Yea! Finally meeting Great Grandma!
Great Grandma giving Ryleigh her bath
Working on "the curl"- so cute!
I think Ryleigh likes it!
Meeting Great Granddad!

4 generations- Granddad, Mom, me, and Ryleigh
Me and Ryleigh with Grandma and Granddad
Ryleigh playing in her bouncer- giving Mom great smiles
4 generations- Grandma, Mom, me, and Ryleigh
What a special trip! I miss being up there already, and look forward to the next visit!

Bittersweet

On our way home from the family reunion Julie decided she wanted to ride home with us. So we stopped in San Marcus and she showed Jesse and I where she will be at school this Fall (Texas State). It was a lot of fun to watch her get excited as we exited the highway towards the school, and she started to recognize where she was and began pointing out places and telling stories. She got turned around a few times, but always managed to figure it out. I liked driving on campus as she pointed out different buildings, facilities, etc. Her dorm is in a great location- right across the street from a cafeteria, close to the Rec center and the student center. The campus is very nice, and she is going to have a lot of fun up there.

Julie has met with her new roommate-to-be, and they get along well. She has ordered all her bedding and has started organizing everything she will need for school. The dining room at my parent's house is full of her stuff. They are supposed to buy her refrigerator sometime this week. Next week I imagine she will start packing.

I have been so excited to be a part of all her senior year activities, and I am having a lot of fun in sharing her joy and excitement of leaving for college.

But it just hit me last week that she is leaving for college. It is going to be strange not having her around or knowing that I could see her driving down Louetta. It will be weird to visit my parents and know that there is no one upstairs. It is going to be hard to watch my youngest sister spread her wings and fly away. And yet, it is going to be awesome to know that she is growing and blossoming into her own person.

What a bittersweet time...

(If I feel like this towards my baby sister, I cannot imagine what it will be like to watch my own baby drive away to college! Yikes, I don't even want to think about it.)

Family Reunion

Our annual family reunion was a few weekends ago in New Branfels and I have not had time to post anything yet! The weekend was full of surprises, but as always, we had a good time.

We pulled up to the hotel on Friday night to see the rest of our extended family waiting outside in their vehicles. It turned out that there was a mix-up at the hotel and they gave away our 4 reserved rooms! After much negotiating, my uncles worked a deal with the hotel and managed to get back 3 rooms, one of which was a 2-room suite. It all worked out just fine, and everyone slept in a bed. :)

Then, when we woke up on Saturday morning, it was a dreary morning, and we just knew that no one was going to show up for the reunion. It was already predicted to be a low attendance year, and with the weather acting up, we figured we might be the only ones there. When we arrived to the site, it looked like our predictions were correct. Shortly afterwards, Julie and I decided to make a run and go get some bug spray (we were right next to the creek, and the mosquitos were everywhere!) When we got back, many people had shown up! It actually ended up being a good year in attendance, and many people who had not been in awhile all came. It was the 1st time all 3 of my second cousins and I (all born in the same week) were there together since 2001!

Julie, Jennifer, and Audrey (holding Ryleigh)

Everyone's favorite activity at the reunion: looking at all the old photo albums from previous reunions!
One of the annual pictures is the "Oldest and Youngest"

Great Aunt Hazel and Ryleigh

We had a good time seeing everyone and of course, showing off Ryleigh. Family is so special, and we are blessed to have a big, loving family that we enjoy hanging out with.

Daddy's Girl

Ryleigh loves spending time with her Daddy...and Jesse equally craves his time with Ryleigh!

I can already tell that these two are going to have a very special relationship.

I love my daughter!

SMILES!

Ryleigh is starting to smile and interact with me! Now, as soon as I try to show her new tricks to anyone else, she of course will not perform. BUT, I caught a few smirks and a smile on camera, so no one can deny the smiles!
This one cracks me up. I honestly have no idea how I caught it on camera, but it is great!
Life is becoming much more fun now. :)